This whole getting older thing is getting on my last nerve. I’m not a big fan of getting photographed, but this week, I had to renew my passport and didn’t have much of a choice. When did I start looking like my Aunt Lydia? It seems that I’ve developed the same creases and baggy bits in my face that I remember her having when she was MUCH older. I would like to grow old gracefully, and thought I was doing pretty well. I don’t match my shoes to a purse or lipstick to my nail polish. I mix patterns. I wear white in winter (disclaimer: in New Orleans, it gets cold for about 6 weeks, 8 weeks tops, so really, white AND linen are year round staples), and I don’t make (the ultimate faux pas) “matchy-matchy” jewelry. It’s just not hip.

Or is it?

I have a friend who likes to buy “something to match” when she picks a piece. I acquiesce. I also have an online client who likes “sets” and I make ’em. At first I thought: “That is so OLD LADY”, and an image of the Queen comes to mind…

Queen Elizabeth

Not so long ago, I acquired a copy of Elizabeth Taylor’s book, “My Love Affair With Jewelry”. It was very chic to have a “matched” set of jewels in her hey day. I have to admit, I would have a hard time turning down this Bulgari emerald suite right now, no matter how passé.

Elizabeth Taylor’s Bulgari Emerald Suite

There is also a ring and a tiara to match this “set” AKA “parure”. Parure is a matched set of ornaments; in jewelry, it’s usually referred to when there are three or more matching pieces (used in reference to antique and vintage jewelry – hence my “old lady” images).

That’s it – I am officially old. I’m starting to kinda like the idea. But instead of making an exact replica, I like to use similar components, or colors. After my friend Jane bought this piece: